For The First Time, Taylor Swift Opens Up About Sexual Assault Trial

Taylor Swift has opened up for the first time about testifying during her sexual assault trial earlier this year…

According to Billboard, the singer revealed in an interview with Time that she actually asked for advice from fellow pop star Kesha on what to expect.

Swift explained:

“I spoke to [her] on the phone and it really helped to talk to someone who had been through the demoralizing court process.”

Unfortunately, the attorney representing the defendant, David Mueller, made the court process very difficult to get through. She described the situation:

“When I testified, I had already been in court all week and had to watch this man’s attorney bully, badger and harass my team including my mother over inane details and ridiculous minutiae, accusing them, and me, of lying. My mom was so upset after her cross-examination, she was physically too ill to come to court the day I was on the stand.”

While she eventually won the case, Swift revealed that she never received her symbolic $1 payment from Mueller. However, she did have advice for anyone that faced similar situations of assault or harassment:

“I would tell people who find themselves in this situation that there is a great deal of blame placed on the victims in cases of sexual harassment and assault. You could be blamed for the fact that it happened, for reporting it and blamed for how you reacted. You might be made to feel like you’re overreacting, because society has made this stuff seem so casual. My advice is that you not blame yourself and do not accept the blame others will try to place on you.”

The interview with Taylor Swift was a part of Time‘s naming it’s Person of the Year to the collective group of people that have come forward about sexual assault and harassment against prominent men in power.